HALO: THE WAR BEGINS
by Valmorgen Kaizer
Summary: SPARTAN 117. Born to die, bred for war. This novelization of the beautiful story of Halo takes us into the mind of this man...the Master Chief. No turning back....No second chances....No mercy....


Hardly any of this belongs to me. It's all Bungie's ideas and stuff, combined with my own ideas.

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Introduction: The Pillar of Autumn

"Cortana," said the Pillar of Autumn's Captain, Capt. Keyes. "All I need to know is, did we lose them?"

"I think we both know the answer to that," the ship's A.I. responded. Keyes paced back and forth, speaking his thoughts.

"We made a blind jump. How did they-"

"-Get here first?" Cortana finished for him. "The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at light speed, my maneuvering options were limited."

"We were running dark, yes?" Keyes looked away from Cortana.

"Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace." Keyes took out his grandfather's pipe and chewed on it. He couldn't smoke it on the bridge or anywhere else on the ship. It was a direct violation of the ship's rules. Chewing on it became a habit for Keyes.

Cortana looked out the window with Keyes. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet."

"So where do we stand?"

"Our fighters are mopping up the rest of the Recon picket now, nothing serious. But, I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS-class battle groups. Make it three capital ships per group. And in about ninety seconds they'll be all over us."

Keyes sighed. "Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations."

"Everyone, sir?"

"Everyone. And Cortana..."

"Hmm?"

"Let's give our friends a warm welcome from the Master Chief."

"I've already begun, sir."

Meanwhile, Sergeant Johnson was assembling troops. "Come on marines! Move like you got a purpose! Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from getting their filthy claws on Earth. But, we've stumbled onto something they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own personal anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hoola hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it!"

The loudspeaker came on. "Attention all combat personnel. Please report to your action stations. Fifth Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck Eleven. Fourteenth platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at Bulkhead Charlie 14. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

Johnson looked back at his men. "Men...keep your eyes downrange, fingers on your triggers, and we all go home in one piece...Am I right marines?!?!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Uh huh! Damn right I am. Now move out! Double time! All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close...this is gonna be your lucky day."

Meanwhile, at the cryo-chambers, the tech geeks were working on the fresh tube that just came in. They were shocked when the smoke disappeared, for behind the glass was a SPARTAN II, one of the strongest living human race that ever lived.

"Whoa..." said one of them. "Sir?"

Right," said the other. "Let's thaw him out."

I regained consciousness. I heard two men in the room. The first I couldn't hear, but the first one was standing next to my tube. "Tube shows green. Cycle complete." He then opened my tube. "Sorry for the quick thaw, Master Chief," he said. "Things are a little hectic right now. The disorientation should wear off quickly."

I looked around and saw the other man standing on a platoon. "Welcome back, sir. We'll have you battle ready stat."

I stepped out of the tube. As I did, I heard the loudspeaker come on. "Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Capt. Keyes. Send the Master Chief to the bridge immediately."

"Captain, we'll have to the diagnosis, and I-"

"On the double, crewman!"

"Aye aye sir!" The man faced me. "The skipper seems jumpy, we'd better get moving. We'll find you weapons later."

"Why do they want me? Is it urgent?"

"I'm not sure. Sam! You'd better get to your evac. group!"

"Affirmative," replied the other technician. "I just have to reset the computer and I'm outta here!"

I listened to Sam type on the keyboard. Then BANG!!! The door in the next room blew open.

"Oh God!" yelled Sam. "They're trying to get through the door! Security! Intruders in Cryo 2!"

Holes shot through the doors as claws protruded out of them.

"No, please don't-AHHHHH!!!" The door exploded, and I saw the most horrible creature imaginable. It was a Covenant Elite, a blue scaled reptilian like alien. It shot Sam twice with a Plasma rifle.

"Come on!" yelled the other technician. "We gotta get the hell out of here!"

We ran like hell out of the room. I looked back at Sam. I saw him reach for a picture of his wife. I watched as the Elite stepped on his arms and blasted the hell out of his head, and gore flew in each and every direction. And still I ran.

We reached a door. The technician punched in numbers to open the door, but the door exploded, killing him. Lucky for me, the door blasted open a hole in the wall, and I slid through.

I looked across the next room to see marines fighting against the distorted aliens. One of the Marines ran up to me. "Sir!" he said, in an Australian accent. "The Captain needs you on the bridge, ASAP! You better follow me!"

We ran through the next door where an elite was pounding a shitload out of a marine's head. My new found friend meleed the elite in the back of the head. Gore swept upon the Marine's eyes. "Oh, God!" he said, while wiping the blood from his eyes. The other marine was dead, and so we moved on.

We reached the bridge. "Captain Keyes is waiting for you, sir!"

"Thank you, friend." I walked through the door, where the Captain was waiting.

He had his back to me, but I knew he could sense my presence. "Captain Keyes?" I asked.

"Master Chief," he responded, and shook my hand. "Good to see you. Things aren't going quite well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."

The frame of a beautiful woman appeared in the A.I. "A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser. Given those odds I'm content with three...make that four kills."

She looked at me and smiled. "But nothing Mr. Muscels here can't handle. Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving, yes," I joked.

"So you did miss me."

Keyes stepped into the conversation. "Alright that's enough. I'm initiating Cole Protocol Artical 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too, Cortana."

"While you do what, go down with the ship?"

"In a manner of speaking. The object we found, I'm going to try to land the Autumn on it."

"With all do respect, sir, this war has enough dead heroes."

"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. The Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of the ship's A.I. is absolutely unacceptable, and that means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of landing zones, upload them into my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard time transfer."

Cortana sighed. "Aye aye, sir."

"Which is where you come in, Chief." He turned to me. "Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her away from the enemy. If they capture her, they'll learn everything; force deployment, weapons research...Earth."

I nodded and said, "I understand."

"The Autumn will continue evasive manuvers until you initiate a landing sequence," said Cortana to Keyes. "Not that you'll listen, but I suggest letting my sub routines handle the final approach."

"Excellent work, Cortana. Are you ready?"

Cortana looked around the room, and then finally said, "Yank me."

Keyes stored the hologram into a chip, and handed to me, and I plugged it into my helmet.

"Good luck...Master Chief."


End file.
